Balancing the Budget Without Cutting Spending Would Cause Taxes to Skyrocket
Everyone wants to know more about the budget and here is some key information with a chart from the Heritage Foundation and a video from the Cato Institute.
America is running massive deficits, and a balanced budget requirement is often considered a way to rein in red ink. Without serious entitlement and other spending reforms, the level of taxes required to balance the federal budget would reach economically stagnating levels.
PERCENTAGE OF GDP
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Source: Heritage Foundation calculations based on Congressional Budget Office data (Alternative Fiscal Scenario).
The charts in this book are based primarily on data available as of March 2011 from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The charts using OMB data display the historical growth of the federal government to 2010 while the charts using CBO data display both historical and projected growth from as early as 1940 to 2084. Projections based on OMB data are taken from the White House Fiscal Year 2012 budget. The charts provide data on an annual basis except… Read More
Authors
Emily GoffResearch Assistant
Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy StudiesKathryn NixPolicy Analyst
Center for Health Policy StudiesJohn FlemingSenior Data Graphics Editor
Earlier, we ranked all 14 quarterback groups in the SEC. Now, it’s time to rank the top 10 SEC quarterbacks heading into the 2012 season.
Again, we are looking at overall talent, game-changing ability and experience. We also looked at past performances and projections for 2012.
Here are our top 10 SEC quarterbacks:
[+] Enlarge AP Photo/David QuinnArkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson passed for more than 3,600 yards and 24 touchdowns last season.
1. Tyler Wilson, Sr., Arkansas: He could have easily left for the NFL after passing for more than 3,600 yards and 24 touchdowns last season. His big-time arm and incredible toughness weren’t too shabby either. While his decision-making came into question sometimes last season, Wilson made tremendous strides this spring and should be an even smarter passer this fall.
2. Aaron Murray, RJr., Georgia: Murray has a chance to own a few more school and SEC records before his time at Georgia is up, but he does have to get over his turnover issues. Murray has some of the best technique and mechanics around, and when he’s on and focused, he is one of the most talented passers out there.
3. Tyler Bray, Jr., Tennessee: Bray might have the strongest arm in the SEC, and has the ability to make some of the toughest throws in traffic. If he’s healthy, he could go for 3,000 yards and 30 touchdowns. His focus hasn’t always been great, but he made sure to correct that this spring and appears to finally be transforming into the real leader he’s wanted to be.
4. AJ McCarron, Jr., Alabama: He has the tools and the moxy to be a real star. As last season progressed, he looked better and better, and capped things off with a marvelous performance in the BCS title game. If coach Nick Saban is really going to let him loose, McCarron has to improve some of his on-field decisions.
5. James Franklin, Jr., Missouri: If he’s healthy, Franklin will be the SEC’s top dual-threat quarterback. During a breakout season last fall, he passed for 2,865 yards and 21 touchdowns, and rushed for 981 yards and 15 more scores. Franklin wants to be a pass-first quarterback in his new league, but his shoulder injury is a concern.
6. Connor Shaw, Jr., South Carolina: Shaw showed his inexperience when he was first thrown into the starting spot last season, but seemed to improve and calm down every week after. Coach Steve Spurrier wants him to be more of a pass-first quarterback, and that seemed to be the case at the end of last season and this spring.
7. Zach Mettenberger, Jr., LSU: Mettenberger was a top quarterback prospect coming out of high school, but has very little experience outside of a stint at the junior college level after leaving Georgia. Still, he’s certainly an upgrade for the Tigers, and showed this spring that he should make LSU’s passing game stronger and more explosive.
8. Jordan Rodgers, RSr., Vanderbilt: Rodgers was an instant playmaker for the Commodores when he replaced the struggling Larry Smith last year, but he struggled with turnovers. This spring was all about him improving his leadership skills and his game management. Vandy’s coaches left spring more confident in Rodgers’ play.
9. Tyler Russell, Jr., Mississippi State: He bided his time during his first two years, but is now the guy in Starkville. The hope is that he’ll be more consistent and more comfortable now that he knows he’s the starter. It looks like the Bulldogs will have a more downfield passing game with Russell taking over.
10. Maxwell Smith, So., Kentucky: Smith played in eight games last season, but proved to be a much more effective player than former starter Morgan Newton. Despite averaging just 102.4 passing yards per game, Smith earned SEC All-Freshmen honors last fall. Smith looked even better this spring, and it appears the Wildcats’ starting quarterback spot is his to lose.
Obama at campaign event in Roanoke VA 7.13.2012: “If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.”
I got a simple question. Did Fred Smith come up with the idea for Federal Express and then spend every cent of his own money and gamble to see if his idea was workable or did the government take those risks?
Did you know that Fed Ex started in Little Rock? Entrepreneurs like Fred Smith need to be encouraged, not discouraged by government. This comment by President Obama actually insults them.
Here is a funny Fed Ex Commercial from the 1980’s.
A few more funny commercials from Fed Ex:
I love the movie Castaway:
On July 3, 1981, I was in Prague, Czechoslovakia in the middle of a 20 country student tour. Our group of 48 American students had the opportunity to speak to a Communist government official for over an hour. We asked him several questions. My questions were quite direct and I will share some of them at a later time.
However, I did want to share one question that I asked. I told the official about an entrepreneur from Memphis named Fred Smith. Back in the early 1970’s we heard about how Smith had this crazy idea about delivering overnight packages from LA to San Francisco via Memphis. Sounded like it would not work, but Smith was able to invest all his money and eventually it paid off. His idea was successful.
I asked the simple question: Could something like this happen here in Communist Czechoslovakia? He responded, “No. That is because no private citizen is allowed to own that much capital. The government must do things like that.”
There was no chance for entrepreneurs to exist in communist countries. I was simply pointing out that economic freedom allows an environment for entrepreneurs. Why would someone put the time and energy in putting together a grand plan like Fed Ex when the benefit and reward would just go to a communist government? Entrepreneurship should be encouraged, but many times today in the USA we find that our lawmakers pass laws that discourage entrepreneurs. Now our President has insulted these same entrepreneurs!!!!
That sound you hear is silence—as millions of small business owners and entrepreneurs were left speechless this weekend from President Obama’s latest insult.
The slap in the face to hard-working Americans conveyed Obama’s belief that it takes a village—a heavily subsidized village—to create that venture you’re profiting from:
Obama pushed his policy goals of infrastructure (aka stimulus) spending and “government research” as part of a collectivist utopia “doing things together.” It’s simply stunning that he would tell Americans, “If you’ve got a business—you didn’t build that.”
After all, could individuals be resourceful and hard-working enough to create whole new enterprises? Obama said:
Look, if you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own. You didn’t get there on your own. I’m always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart.
It is this view of successful businesses—essentially, “You owe us”—that drives Obama’s continued attacks on the country’s job creators in the form of tax hikes and regulations.
It’s a tough time to be a business owner and entrepreneur in America. Surveys show small business owners are struggling, and they are not expanding or hiring because of tax and regulatory uncertainty. Federal agencies, from Health and Human Services to the Environmental Protection Agency, are regulating them to death. And just last week, President Obama announced his latest economic plan was to hit job creators with a tax increase.
The President’s plan to raise taxes on earnings above $200,000 ($250,000 for joint filers) would hit 1.2 million small-business employers who pay their taxes through the individual income tax, known as flow-through businesses. These businesses that are creating jobs earn almost all—91 percent—of the income earned by flow-through employer-businesses.
The new tax increase could be equivalent to one employee per small business. According to calculations by The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Data Analysis, the average American with $250,000 or more in income can expect an average $24,888 tax increase next year under Obama’s proposed policies. That $24,888 figure is often enough for a salary. So the President could be putting about 1.2 million jobs—perhaps even more—at risk with this tax hike.
Hitting private job creators while advocating more stimulus spending and government jobs. That’s the President’s plan for the economy.
Meanwhile, businesses large and small suffer from the highest corporate tax rate in the developed world. This has long made the U.S. an uncompetitive place for new investment and has driven new jobs to other, more competitive nations, meaning fewer jobs and lower wages for all Americans.
If the U.S. is to see economic recovery, we must encourage entrepreneurship. Stopping the biggest tax increase in American history, Taxmageddon, would be a good place to start. It’s a $494 billion tax hike set to hit on January 1, when a number of tax policies expire and just a few of Obamacare’s new taxes kick in. Businesses are already hesitating on hiring decisions because of the impending effects of these taxes.
Democratic leaders are demanding tax hikes, however, and threatening to allow Taxmageddon for the sake of politics—despite warnings that it would send the U.S. back into recession.
Real recovery will take even more than saving job creators from punishing taxes and regulations. It requires leadership that appreciates and values the long hours that America’s business builders put in and the personal sacrifices they make for their dreams. It will take leaders who say, “If you’ve got a business—you built that. And we want more of that in America.”
What is our business, by contrast, is what politicians are doing with the money they confiscate from us. This Lisa Benson cartoon helps to make that point, though it would be even better if she had written “Romney’s Stash for His Own Money” and “Obama’s Stash for Our Money.”
Obama, needless to say, is an expert at squandering other people’s money, as illustrated by money pits such as the faux stimulus and the green energy scam.
P.S. Lest anyone think I’m being partisan, the headline of this would be just as accurate if I added “How Bush Spent My Money” or “How Romney Would Spend My Money.” Bush, after all, followed the same fiscal agenda as Obama, and Romney’s track record suggests he will be similarly profligate.
P.P.S. Which makes me miss Bill Clinton, who was frugal by comparison. Or Ronald Reagan, who actually did the right things for the right reason.
Kentucky had some great games against Arkansas in the past. Of course, the 7 overtime game is still an NCAA record. This year I think the Razorbacks should prevail against the Wildcats and even this reviewer from Kentucky below agrees. He has his hopes up that they will win against Georgia and Tennessee and I know that their history against those teams in the past has been very bleak. Hope springs eternal I guess.
Home » Kentucky football » Kentucky Wildcats Football: A way-to-early preview of the 2012 season.
We’ve touched on Kentucky’s 2012 schedule a couple of times since its release, but not really in depth. While it may be way too early to even think about the outcome of the 2012 season, I’m going to try to peer into the ole crystal ball and see into the future a little bit.
Kentucky will be rebuilding to an extent in 2012. The Offense will return several key players at key positions. Both quarterbacks that saw starting reps will return in Maxwell Smith and Morgan Newton, every scholarship running back will be back this season and the receiving corps lost only Matt Roark. There will be a question mark along the offensive line, but starters Matt Smith and Larry Warford will be back along with oft used freshman Darrian Miller. Several playmakers will be coming off of their redshirt seasons at the skill positions, and the offensive line will be restocked with Zach West coming off of his redshirt season and the addition of several new recruits. The defense though, will have to replace five starters. The defensive line will return every player that played meaningful snaps except Luke McDermott and Mark Crawford. Three linebacker spots and both starting cornerbacks will be open after the departure of the five starting seniors from 2011, but a recruiting class full of talent and depth should help out in addition to the backups who should be ready to step up.
Overall, the 2012 team should be talented, but plenty of question marks should make for an interesting season.
On to the schedule…
I’ve separated out the games into three categories. WINs are games that Kentucky should win. Games marked LOSS are contests in which the Cats will have little hope for victory. The games listed as TOSS UP are the ones that should be the most interesting. While UK may not be favored, these are games Kentucky can win if they come to play.
9/1/12 – @ Louisville
Kentucky stumbled to a loss against the Cardinals this past season despite the many question marks surrounding theLouisvilleprogram. This year, the Cardinals will be more experienced and will get the Cats at home. Call me crazy, but I’m not overly impressed with the roster Charlie Strong has assembled.
TOSS UP
9/8/12 – vs. KentState
The Golden Flashes aren’t a bad team, but they’re a team Kentucky should beat. Scares against WKU and Central Michigan this past season should ensure that the team doesn’t take any opponent lightly. Unless the wheels completely fall off, this one should be a W.
WIN
9/15/2012 –vs. Western Kentucky
I don’t think the Hilltoppers are as sure of a win as a lot of other fans. WKU has improved and is continuing to bring in talented players. Add to that, that in-state opponents always seem to bring the best out of a team, and this game makes me a little uneasy. All that considered, Kentucky will be the better team, and will be playing Western at home, and the game will actually be on a Saturday this time.
WIN
9/22/12 – @ Florida
The Gators are in a state of flux right now. Will Muschamp didn’t exactly set the world on fire in his first season, and the offense will be replacing offensive coordinator Charlie Weis and quarterback John Brantley. Still, beating the Gators in the Swamp is always tough and Florida will not be overlooking the Cats after their 2011 campaign. I just don’t see the Cats pulling this one out right now.
LOSS
9/29/12 – vs. South Carolina
The Gamecocks had a decent season last year, but failed to live up to the lofty expectations of winning the conference. Most of the talent from last years’ team will return and another excellent recruiting class will restock the cabinet from the players that are gone. I highly doubt we see the blowout loss that the Gamecocks handed Kentucky in Columbia, but this one looks like a long shot at best.
LOSS
10/6/12 – vs.MississippiState
The Bulldogs started out 2011 looking like a top-10 team, but petered off quickly and barely held on to beat Kentucky in Lexington. The Cats will actually welcome MSU into town again this year and this should be a good game once again. It’s tough to say who will be favored at this point, but I think this one could really go wither way.
TOSS UP
10/13/12 – @Arkansas
The Razorbacks were overshadowed by LSU and Alabama this season, but they were still one of the best teams in the country. Bobby Petrino has managed to recruit some serious talent to go along with his unique offense and the combination has proved lethal. Kentuckymight have a chance in Lexington, but winning in Fayetteville is probably a pipe dream at this point.
LOSS
10/20/12 – vs. Georgia
It seems like Georgia produces a top-10 recruiting class each year and always finds a way to replace the players they lose quickly. After starting slow in 2011, they ramped it up late in the season and it looked like they might win the conference at halftime of the SEC Championship. As good as Georgia is, I still think Kentucky has a pretty decent shot at the Bulldogs this year due to the game being in Lexington this year and the ridiculously high number of Georgians on the UK roster that are likely looking forward to getting a shot at the Bulldogs. This one might surprise some people.
TOSS UP
10/27/12 – @ Missouri
The Tigers are likely to have a tough year in their first season competing in the SEC and Kentucky will need to take advantage of that. As the new SEC East team, Misouri will come in as a solid squad, but not a juggernaut. It will be important for the Cats to compete against them and make sure that they don’t fall down a rung in the conference ladder. A win at Missouri will be tough, but not impossible.
TOSS UP
11/03/2012 – vs. Vanderbilt
The Commodores handed Kentucky a loss in Nashvilletthis past year and will return much of the talent from coach Franklin’s debut season. That’s great and all, but Vanderbilt is still Vanderbilt and winning on the road is always tough in this conference. I expect this to be a close game and a loss wouldn’t surprise me, but I’m leaning more towards a Kentucky “W” than an “L.”
TOSS UP
11/17/2012 – vs. Samford
Kentuckywill be coming off of their bye week when Samford comes to town. We all remember Appalachian State, Jacksonville State, and James Madison beating BCS-conference teams over the last few years, but Samford overtaking the Wildcats would be a shocker.
WIN
1/24/2012 – @ Tennessee
The Wildcats finally broke ‘the streak’ this past year, so the monkey is finally of the team’s back. Tennessee will be rebuilding to an extent and Derek Dooley may not even be the team’s coach by the time this game is played. I would think that the Volunteers would be looking to avenge the loss in Lexington, but they will not have the talent that Tennessee teams of the past have had. Kentucky will probably be an underdog, but I think a win is not out of the question.
TOSS UP
So…
By my estimation, Kentucky should have a season somewhere in between 3-9 and 10-2. I know that seems like a ridiculous range, but there are just more winnable games on this schedule than there have been in the last few years. Realistically, a 6-6 or 7-5 season is about where this team should finish, but a lot will hinge on the Louisville game. If Kentucky can start the season with a bang, we could have a surprising trip in 2012.
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Politicians and interest groups claim higher taxes are necessary because it would be impossible to cut spending by enough to get rid of red ink. This Center for Freedom and Prosperity video shows that these assertions are nonsense. The budget can be balanced very quickly by simply limiting the annual growth of federal spending.
____________________
President Obama c/o The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
People are being told that radical spending cuts are a must if we are to balance the budget, but maybe that is not true. Why don’t you favor holding the line on spending so we can get to a balanced budget? The Republicans are going to beat you up on this issue during the election.
Even though I favor radical reductions in the burden of government, I’ve made the point that good fiscal policy merely requires that government spending grow slower than the private sector – what I call Mitchell’s Golden Rule.
And if lawmakers simply cap the growth of spending, so that it grows by about 2 percent annually, the budget deficit disappears in a decade.
It’s even better to impose more restraint, of course, which is why I’ve said favorable things about Senator Rand Paul’s plan.
There’s also a “Penny Plan” that would reduce primary spending (non-interest spending) by 1 percent each year. As James Carter and Jason Fichtner explain, this degree of fiscal restraint would reduce the burden of government spending to about 18 percent of economic output.
Any viable solution must cut spending growth. Sen. Mike Enzi of Wyoming and Rep. Connie Mack of Florida have introduced legislation in their respective chambers to do just that. Their “Penny Plan” – recently updated to reflect the latest budget developments – calls for reducing federal spending (excluding interest payments) 1 percent a year for five years, balancing the budget in the fifth year. To maintain balance once it’s reached, Mr. Enzi and Mr. Mack would cap federal spending at 18 percent of GDP. By no small coincidence, 18 percent of GDP roughly matches the U.S. long-run average level of taxation since World War II. Is it realistic to think Congress could limit federal spending to 18 percent of GDP? Actually, there is precedent. Federal spending fell as a share of GDP for nine consecutive years before bottoming out at 18.2 percent of GDP in fiscal 2000 and 2001. The Penny Plan would return federal spending, expressed as a share of GDP, near the level achieved during the last two years of the Clinton administration.
The various interest groups that infest Washington would complain about this degree of spending discipline, but Carter and Fichtner make a good point when they say that this simply means the same size government – as a share of GDP – that we had when Bill Clinton left office.
I realize I’m getting old and my memory may not be what it used to be, but I don’t recall people starving in the streets and grannies being ejected from hospitals during the Clinton years. Am I missing something?
__________________
Thank you so much for your time. I know how valuable it is. I also appreciate the fine family that you have and your commitment as a father and a husband.
Sincerely,
Everette Hatcher III, 13900 Cottontail Lane, Alexander, AR 72002, ph 501-920-5733, lowcostsqueegees@yahoo.com
On May 20, 2012 I attended the St. George’s Independent School commencement exercises in Collierville, Tennessee. School President William W. Taylor used the Beatles as an example of a group of people that brought different talents together to accomplish much.
He also quoted from the song “My Life” which happens to be one of my favorite songs. It goes like this:
There are places I’ll remember
All my life though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places have their moments
With lovers and friends I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I’ve loved them all
But of all these friends and lovers
There is no one compares with you
And these memories lose their meaning
When I think of love as something new
Though I know I’ll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I’ll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more
Though I know I’ll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I’ll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more
In my life I love you more
Writers: Lennon-McCartney Recorded: October 18 and 22, 1965 Released: December 6, 1965 Not released as a single
‘In My Life” represented a crucial breakthrough for John Lennon — as well as a creative struggle. The song began with a question: During a March 1964 interview with Lennon, journalist Kenneth Allsop asked why he hadn’t written more lyrics about his life and experiences. “I had a sort of professional songwriter’s attitude to writing pop songs,” Lennon said to Rolling Stone in 1970. “I would write [books like] In His Own Write, to express my personal emotions. I’d have a separate songwriting John Lennon who wrote songs for the meat market. I didn’t consider them to have any depth at all. They were just a joke.”
Taking Allsop’s critique to heart, Lennon wrote a long poem about people and places from his past, touching on Liverpool landmarks like Penny Lane, Strawberry Field and Menlove Avenue. “I had a complete set of lyrics after struggling with a journalistic version of a trip downtown on a bus, naming every sight,” he said. When he read the poem later, though, “it was the most boring ‘What I Did on My Holidays’ song, and it wasn’t working. But then I laid back, and these lyrics started coming to me about the places I remember.”
What happened next is a dispute that will never be resolved. “In My Life” is one of only a handful of Lennon-McCartney songs where the two strongly disagreed over who wrote what: According to Lennon, “The whole lyrics were already written before Paul even heard it. His contribution melodically was the harmony and the middle eight.” According to McCartney, Lennon basically had the first verse done. At one of their writing sessions at Lennon’s Weybridge estate, the two painstakingly rewrote the lyrics, making them less specific and more universal. (Some of Lennon’s lines, like his reference to the late Stu Sutcliffe, the Beatles’ former bassist, in “some are dead and some are living,” remained.) McCartney also says he wrote the melody on Lennon’s Mellotron, inspired by Smokey Robinson, as well as the gentle opening guitar figure.
Regardless of its true authorship, “In My Life” represented Lennon’s evolution as an artist. “I started being me about the songs, not writing them objectively, but subjectively,” Lennon said. “I think it was Dylan who helped me realize that — not by any discussion or anything, but by hearing his work.” The Beatles were huge Dylan fans by early 1964, playing The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan nonstop in between gigs. When Dylan visited the Beatles in New York that August, he famously introduced them to marijuana. (He thought the Beatles were already pot smokers, having misheard the lyrics “I can’t hide” in “I Want to Hold Your Hand” as “I get high.”) Dylan and pot would be the great twin influences that led the Beatles out of their moptop period and on to their first masterpiece, Rubber Soul.
Before that album, “We were just writing songs à la the Everly Brothers and Buddy Holly,” Lennon said, “pop songs with no more thought to them than that.” He rightly called “In My Life” “my first real, major piece of work. Up until then, it had all been glib and throwaway.”
Part 3 of 3: ‘Is Woody Allen A Romantic Or A Realist?’
A discussion of Woody Allen’s 1989 movie, Crimes and Misdemeanors, perhaps his finest.
By Anton Scamvougeras.
Judah Rosenthal: I remember my father telling me, “The eyes of God are on us always.” The eyes of God. What a phrase to a young boy. What were God’s eyes like? Unimaginably penetrating, intense eyes, I assumed. And I wonder if it was just a coincidence I made my specialty ophthalmology. Share this quote
Clifford Stern: While we’re waiting for a cab I’ll give you your lesson for today. Don’t listen to what your teachers tell ya, you know. Don’t pay attention. Just, just see what they look like and that’s how you’ll know what life is really gonna be like. Share this quote
Clifford Stern: [after being handed a box of Milk Duds] Great. Now I can get rid of my few remaining teeth. Share this quote
Halley Reed: [on the philosopher Lewis Levy] He was very eloquent on the subject of love, didn’t you think? Clifford Stern: I wish I had met him before I got married. It would’ve saved me a gall bladder operation. Share this quote
Clifford Stern: Show business is, is dog-eat-dog. It’s worse than dog-eat-dog. It’s dog-doesn’t-return-other-dog’s-phone-calls, which reminds me. I should check my answering service. Share this quote
Clifford Stern: [on Professor Levy’s demise] He left a note. He left a simple little note that said “I’ve gone out the window.” This is a major intellectual and he leaves a note that says “I’ve gone out the window.” He’s a role-model. You’d think he’d leave a decent note. Share this quote
Clifford Stern: I don’t know from suicide, y’know. Where I grew up in Brooklyn we were too unhappy to commit suicide. Share this quote
Clifford Stern: What is the guy so upset about? You’d think nobody was ever compared to Mussolini before. Share this quote
Clifford Stern: [on receiving his love letter back] It’s probably just as well. I plagiarized most of it from James Joyce. You probably wondered why all the references to Dublin. Share this quote
[first lines] Professor Levy: [voiceover] We are all faced throughout our lives with agonizing decisions. Moral choices. Some are on a grand scale. Most of these choices are on lesser points. But! We define ourselves by the choices we have made. We are in fact the sum total of our choices. Events unfold so unpredictably, so unfairly, human happiness does not seem to have been included, in the design of creation. It is only we, with our capacity to love, that give meaning to the indifferent universe. And yet, most human beings seem to have the ability to keep trying, and even to find joy from simple things like their family, their work, and from the hope that future generations might understand more. Share this quote
Judah Rosenthal: [to Ben] Jack lives in the real world. You live in the kingdom of heaven. I’d managed to keep free of that real world but suddenly it’s found me. Share this quote
Professor Levy: You will notice that what we are aiming at when we fall in love is a very strange paradox. The paradox consists of the fact that, when we fall in love, we are seeking to re-find all or some of the people to whom we were attached as children. On the other hand, we ask our beloved to correct all of the wrongs that these early parents or siblings inflicted upon us. So that love contains in it the contradiction: The attempt to return to the past and the attempt to undo the past. Share this quote
Ben: But the law, Judah. Without the law, it’s all darkness. Share this quote
Judah Rosenthal: And after the awful deed is done, he finds that he’s plagued by deep-rooted guilt. Little sparks of his religious background which he’d rejected are suddenly stirred up. He hears his father’s voice. He imagines that God is watching his every move. Suddenly, it’s not an empty universe at all, but a just and moral one, and he’s violated it. Now, he’s panic-stricken. He’s on the verge of a mental collapse-an inch away from confessing the whole thing to the police. And then one morning, he awakens. The sun is shining, his family is around him and mysteriously, the crisis has lifted. He takes his family on a vacation to Europe and as the months pass, he finds he’s not punished. In fact, he prospers. The killing gets attributed to another person-a drifter who has a number of other murders to his credit, so I mean, what the hell? One more doesn’t even matter. Now he’s scott-free. His life is completely back to normal. Back to his protected world of wealth and privilege. Share this quote
[first lines] Testimonial Speaker: We’re all very proud of Judah Rosenthal’s philanthropic efforts. His endless hours of fund raising for the hospital, the new medical center, and now, the ophthalmology wing, which until this year had just been a dream. But it’s due to Rosenthal our friend that we most appreciate. The husband, the father, the golf companion. Naturally if you have a medical problem you can call Judah… Miriam Rosenthal: You’re blushing darling. Testimonial Speaker: …day or night, weekends or holidays. But you can also call Judah to find out which is the best restaurant in Paris – or Athens. Or which hotel to stay at in Moscow. Or the best recording of a particular Mozart symphony… Sharon Rosenthal: My father’s so nervous about having to get up to speak. Chris: I know, I know. I knew he was nervous when you didn’t eat any of those cocktail weenies at the hors d’oeuvres. Miriam Rosenthal: He was so courageous all week. Then suddenly tonight, stage fright. Really Judah, you were fine until you got home from work today. Share this quote
Crimes and Misdemeanors: A Discussion: Part 1 Uploaded by camdiscussion on Sep 23, 2007 Part 1 of 3: ‘What Does Judah Believe?’ A discussion of Woody Allen’s 1989 movie, perhaps his finest. By Anton Scamvougeras. http://camdiscussion.blogspot.com/antons@mail.ubc.ca _____________ Today I am starting a discusssion of the movie “Crimes and Misdemeanors” by Woody Allen. This 1989 […]
Sleepers (1973) Allen (left) wrote, directed and starred in this oddball love story, set 200 years in the future. It was his first on-screen collaboration with Diane Keaton (second left), who went on to become one of the director’s muses in the early days of his career. ___________ I have written more on […]
Looking at the (sometimes skewed) morality of Woody Allen’s best films. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) Allen continues the art-as-salvation theme in Hannah and Her Sisters, an ensemble drama about family and infidelity. The film tells three stories, one of which stars Allen as a hypochondriac named Mickey. Terrified of death, Mickey begins a search […]
Viva La Vida Published on Jun 23, 2012 by TheRyanj64 Coldplay’s Viva La Vida at American Airlines Center in Dallas on June 22, 2012 __________ Coldplay brought confetti, lights and thousands of fans to the American Airlines Center; see photos from their colorful show Photo Gallery News Sports Lifestyles Comments (0) 5/11 Chris […]
Good website on Woody Allen How can I believe in God when just last week I got my tongue caught in the roller of an electric typewriter? If Jesus Christ came back today and saw what was being done in his name, he’d never stop throwing up. If only God would give me some clear […]
Francis Schaeffer discussed modern films and how they showed the state of man. That is why I like Woody Allen’s films so much. He knows what the big issues are in life and even though he present the right answers he does grapple with the right questions. Michelangelo Antonioni heavily influenced Allen and below is […]
Jesse Eisenberg – Press Conference “To Rome With Love” Published on Apr 21, 2012 by portugal888 Review: Allen’s ‘Rome’ delivers lackluster love Published: Tuesday, June 19 2012 11:06 a.m. MDT By David Germain View 4 photos » This film image released by Sony Pictures Classics shows, : Alec Baldwin as John, left, and Jesse Eisenberg […]
How To Recover From a Break Up With Greta Gerwig Published on May 16, 2012 by younghollywood Young Hollywood is hanging out in NYC during the Tribeca film festival, where we chat with rising star Greta Gerwig about her hip slice-of-life movie, ‘Lola Versus’. Greta offers up some advice on how to get over a […]
TO ROME WITH LOVE – conferenza stampa con Allen, Benigni e Cruz http://WWW.RBCASTING.COM Published on Apr 18, 2012 by RBcasting http://www.rbcasting.com Conferenza stampa del film “To Rome With Love”, scritto e diretto da Woody Allen. Tra gli interpreti, lo stesso Allen, Alec Baldwin, Roberto Benigni, Penelope Cruz, Judy Davis, Jesse Eisenberg, Ellen Page e Greta […]
I love the movie Crimes and Misdemeanors and have written on it many times in the past. This quote below sums up Woody Allen’s worldview which I disagree with. In fact, the person who said this actually could not live with its conclusions in the movie and committed suicide. Because Allen continues to […]
On April 30, 2012 (67 years after Hitler killed himself) I stated on the Arkansas Times Blog: Hitler’s last few moments of life were filled with anxiety as they should have been. He went on to face his maker and pay dearly for his many sins. When I look at the never before released pictures […]
Several members of the 70′s band Kansas became committed Christians after they realized that the world had nothing but meaningless to offer. It seems through the writings of both Woody Allen and Chris Martin of Coldplay that they both are wrestling with the issue of death and what meaning does life bring. Kansas went through […]
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) came to Washington as the a tea-party conservative with the goal of fixing the economy, addressing the debt crisis and curbing the growth of the federal government. It’s an uphill battle for the youngest member of the U.S. Senate, but one he’s prepared to fight.
In the days following Obama’s speech to Congress, Lee sharply criticized the president’s ideas for raising taxes and hiking spending to spur economic growth. As he explained to us, “We need to not be doing more of the same things that made the problem worse. We need to refocus on getting the federal government out of the way rather than making the federal government part of the problem.”
Ringo Starr plays With a Little Help From My Friends / Give Peace a Chance Live at Bethel Woods, on June 16, 2012. View from rushing the stage near the end of the concert
Whilst in no way meaning to damn with faint praise (it’s Ringo Starr, who would wish him ill?), there is little on Ringo 2012 that is deserving of great praise either.
Nor does there really have to be. Beatles completists and milder nostalgists will find this comfortable stroll through the 4/4, twelve bar, ageing men playing competent blues checklist.
That should be, and will be enough for both camps. It’s interesting to hear what a musician with nothing to prove comes up with. It would be typical at this point to say something along the lines of ‘in 2012’s intensely competitive and failure-strewn music market, only music which strives to be great can hope to survive’, and point out that with a fanbase as solid as Ringo’s, perhaps there is some comforting aspect to making music which only has to strive to be good.
interesting to hear what a musician with nothing to prove comes up with
It misses a point though, which is that there never was a time when the recorded music market wasn’t viciously fought, and that being one of the few to have sold records over the course of six decades still doesn’t guarantee a smooth run with a record label. Ask Tom Jones.
And Ringo, the one member of The Beatles who wasn’t there from the start, described by John Lennon as ‘not even the best drummer in The Beatles’, still has to perform. Shouldering that quote for nigh-on sixty years can’t help but irritate, but to his credit, the album resists any urge to get flashy with the kit, throwing in nifty little syncopations or tricky assymetric paradiddles. (Lennon did tell Playboy magazine in 1980 that Ringo was ‘a damn good drummer’.)
not even the best drummer in The Beatles
Starr’s great gift as a drummer, and one which he is well aware of, is his time. Metronomic and sturdy, what he can do is beat out a backbone to any song, solid enough to anchor any amount of histrionics going on at the front of the stage. In his earlier days that may have been a couple of artschool scousers yelling out harmonies, now it’s more likely to be guitar solos or in one particularly sultry case, Rhodes piano.
‘Anthem’ opens the album with a surging flashback to ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)’, the very same bridge-picked guitar sound (or as near as dammit) swooping in and livening up what is otherwise a pretty pedestrian runthrough of simplistic peace and love platitudes calling upon us all to get our act together and sort the world’s more obvious problems out.
a surging flashback to ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
There are no surprises in the exuberant guitar solos or solid percussion on the blues-rock structure, unless it has some coded clues that only true fans with encyclopaedic knowledge of his life and career will pick up. Perhaps, played backwards, there is a ghostly voice chanting ‘George is alive’, but in its absence, the track is a competent plodder.
Elsewhere the album is jaunty – from the steel drum peppered ‘Think it Over’, which sounds a bit like Dion’s ‘The Wanderer’ mated with ‘Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da’, to the strangely polka leanings of ‘Samba’. If these songs were to be played, this well, at a wedding reception, you would dance and enjoy. And there is the heart of it, because as can be expected after so many hugely successful years in the business, the man knows some fine musicians. It’s not the Wilburys, but its a bunch of experts, playing well within their competence, and thus getting on with all those beyond-competence facets of music that come from that: groove, humour, swagger, fun.
It’s not the Wilburys, but its a bunch of experts, playing well
Where that reaches its peak, as does the album, is in ‘Step Lightly’, where Benmont Tench’s languid dexterity on the Rhodes piano [it’s not specified on the notes who played what, but call this an educated guess] is gut-churningly electric, utterly captivating. Any complexity of lyricism or vocals would be wasted on the track, and completely inappropriate. Which is just as well, because to be brutal, there are none of either on the album. What Starr offers instead is unabashed honesty, not soul-baring intensity honest, but just the simple stuff:
the worst it ever was was wonderful, better than I ever dreamed, the worst it ever was was wonderful, because it’s always been you and me. And we made it through, like we always do
Nuff said.
But there is always the moment on solo albums where the artist overextends. Bands self-police, and when one member is in danger of megalomania, the others often cut him down to size. In the case of The Beatles, that could involve a kick in the head. Not ideal, or recommended, but effective nonetheless.
Session men, even as illustrious as Dave Stewart, tend to hold their tongues (and feet). Which is a pity, because with a little constructive criticism, ‘In Liverpool’ might have been the song to finally get Ringo that UK number one single that has been so elusive (all the other Fab Four have had them). It’s sweet, it’s even lump-in-throat at times, but it’s just not enough.
Clunky lyrics are forgiveable, or would be if there were just a detail or two
‘In Liverpool’ walks us through a halcyon recreation of the city where the young Starkey grew up, and whilst clearly autobiographical, is just not intimate enough to satisfy. Clunky lyrics are forgiveable, or would be if there were just a detail or two in the song to draw us into his confidence. Instead we get non-committal observations that whilst ‘the rain never stopped, but the sun always shone in my mind’, or that ‘an apprentice engineer, but I had something very clear in my mind, in Liverpool. Music was my goal, in my heart and in my soul and in my mind’.
So tantalising, especially where he sings of ‘Me and my band, living our fantasies’, there are memories here that would be wonderful to hear, but they are not shared. Instead we get (admittedly very fine) strings adding to the nostalgia of the song, but no real insight. (The subject is better covered on his earlier song ‘The Other Side of Liverpool’, on YNot)
Complex or poignant, ‘In Liverpool’ is not. Which is a pity, because it would be lovely to hear something more detailed. Then there is the unfortunate fact that the track owes a great deal in melody to The Kinks’ ‘Waterloo Sunset’. And that’s a tough, tough song to be compared to.
a complexity of feeling for that city that is utterly lacking in Ringo’s paean to Liverpool
Ray Davies’ self-consolatory but bittersweet musings on being left behind in London by an elder sister bound for Australia deliver a complexity of feeling for that city that is utterly lacking in Ringo’s paean to Liverpool. It wouldn’t be at all fair to even mention it, only that in tone and melodic hook they are so akin. Having spent as many years living in Los Angeles, Monte Carlo and Surrey, Starr’s relationship with Liverpool is surely more complicated than this runthrough of childhood and young adult rose-tinted images.
In truth, the song has much in common with the joke about the Irish boomerang (i.e. it never comes back, nor does it ever stop singing about it). Liverpool, a captivating city in so many ways, seems also to grow in romanticism the further one gets from it.
Boasting an undeniably heavyweight cultural punch for all that, Liverpool still lacks an anthem to rally behind. Marsden‘s ‘Ferry Across the Mersey’ wallows in bombast; ‘Penny Lane’ is too suburban, and ‘In Liverpool’ suffers from being simultaneously too personal – it is obviously autobiographical – but not personal enough to evoke the love for the city that Starr clearly feels. And judging by the mid-Atlantic blues, honky-tonk and pub rock flavour of the rest of the album, we may have to keep waiting.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012 9:03 PM
It Don’t Come Easy Live Ringo Starr Bethel Woods June 16 2012
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The Daily Hatch 